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PRODUCT REVIEW
A first look at Handspring's Visor
By Claire Pieterek
Handspring's Visor series gives Palm device users more of a good thing for less money. Visor offers more RAM, more expandability, and more colors, all for list prices lower than comparable Palm Computing models.
"Although there is a built-in microphone at the bottom of the unit, it's internally connected to the Springboard slot and isn't usable at present."
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Many of you might remember that Handspring is the company formed by Palm's founding pair, Jeff Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky. Now that Handspring has released its highly anticipated first products, we're ready to take an in-depth look.
If you look at Figure A, you'll see that the Visor is very similar in appearance to the Palm III series. Like most of the Palm III series, the Visor runs PalmOS 3.1 on a Motorola Dragonball EZ processor. The screens used in the Visor are similar to those used in the Palm IIIe, IIIx, and V, and have the same default backlighting mode. And just like on your Palm device, the .8 shortcut will work on your Visor, if you don't overwrite the Graffiti_Shortcuts file.
FIGURE A
The Visor is similar in appearance to the Palm III series.
Initially, Visor handhelds and Springboard modules (more on these later) will be available only online directly from Handspring, with shipping to start this month. According to Handspring, Visors will be available in selected US retail outlets and internationally in early 2000. Pre-orders for Visors and some of the Springboard modules are being taken now at 888-565-9393.
A 2MB Visor (similar to the Palm IIIe -- 2MB RAM, no flash memory) sells for $179, and an 8MB Visor Deluxe (twice as much RAM as the Palm IIIx, but no flash memory) sells for $249. In comparison, Palm's suggested retail price for the Palm IIIe was $229 (but, probably in response to Handspring pricing, it was just lowered to $179), and the Palm IIIx lists at $229, although you should be able to find them for less online. The Visor Solo -- a 2MB Visor with no HotSync cradle -- is available for $149.
New built-in software
A couple of the Visor's built-in applications are big improvements over Palm's.
DateBook+, shown in Figure B, is a special version of Pimlico Software's DateBk3, modified to meet Handspring's requirements. According to DateBk3's author, C.E. Steuart Dewar, he modified the existing version of DateBk3 by standardizing the user interface and omitting some of the "power user" features such as icons, categories, time zones, and appointments spanning midnight. If needed, Visor users can still load and use DateBk3. There is some sort of time zone support. It's provided by the City Time application, which shows the time in your home city and four cities you choose from a comprehensive worldwide list.
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